92 Years At The Olympics, And India Has Scored Only 1 Individual Gold. Can 2016 Change That?

In exactly 363 days from today, on June 5 2016, India will find itself pitted against the world¡¯s best in what is the greatest sporting festival on the planet.

92 years, only one individual gold

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And for our athletes who have toiled for the best part of four years and more, it will be their chance to script history. Each of them will aim to rewrite India¡¯s Olympic story, which is nothing to be gung ho about. In 92 years of competition between 1924 and 2016, India has one solitary individual gold medal to show. In a country of a billion-plus with serious potential, this record can only get better.

To what extent will this dismal statistic change at Rio 2016? Can the 33 Indian athletes who have already qualified, and the many others who will, provide India¡¯s Olympic journey a new momentum? Can they stand up to the pressure of the Olympics and not have a breakdown common to many Indian athletes in the past.

The stories of our athletes

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Sample the Limba Ram case. Ram, one of the most talented archers of his day and a definite medal prospect at Barcelona 1992, had lost out by a solitary point in his quest for a medal. Surprised and perplexed, lore has it that he went straight up to the officials and said ¡°Can we have a rematch please? I will surely beat my opponent.¡± A classic case of Olympic nerves, Ram did not have the exposure that Deepika Kumari or Mangal Champia has. He was raw talent with little finesse and no fine-tuning.

Kumari and team, winners at many world meets over the last four years, are finished products as international archers. Yet they were unable to stand up to the pressure in the London 2012 Games. Touted as possible medal winners, they were a bundle of nerves at Lords and put up a below par performance. With an excellent showing at the recently concluded world championships, Kumari, Laxmirani Majhi and Rimul Buruily have once again ignited hope of a new dawn in Indian archery, one which will see India win the much coveted Olympic medal.

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High hopes for shooters and wrestlers

The two Indian contingents that will travel to Rio with the biggest burden of expectations are the shooters and wrestlers. In a historic first, India had a total of 11 shooters who had qualified for London 2012. Already five of our famed shooters have made the cut for Rio.

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A number of others are expected to qualify at the World Cup currently on in Azerbaijan, or in the Asian Shooting Championships scheduled for November in Kuwait. While this list includes proven veterans like Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang, it also includes youngsters like Apurvi Chandela and Gurpreet Singh besides the new poster boy of Indian shooting, Jitu Rai. Rai, who had a sensational 2014, has not been able to scale similar heights this year. But that could very well be part of a strategy to peak at the right time. With multiple medals at the world championships and the Asian Games, he, many expect, will give India the perfect start in the 10 m Air Pistol event at Rio.

Others like Chain Singh, Lajja Gauswami, Henna Sidhu, Sanjeev Rajput, Prakash Nanjappa and Ayonika Paul have the potential to make the cut if they are able to absorb the pressure that comes with performing at the biggest sporting stage of all. Among the wrestlers, India¡¯s most decorated individual Olympian Sushil Kumar is once again the one expected to do wonders in Brazil.

Having moved up to the 74kg category, the competition will be tougher for Kumar in Rio. However, the wealth of experience that he has and the hard work that he puts in day in and out, gives us hope that he could well make it three in three. Yogeshwar Dutt too, if the Asian Games 2014 is any proof, has a realistic chance of winning a medal. Having already won a medal in London, he too is one for the big stage. Also, it will be interesting to see if youngsters like Babita Kumari or Vinesh Phogat are able to make the cut and subsequently go on to win India her first medal in women¡¯s wrestling.

Badminton, boxing and tennis

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India¡¯s Rio story can hardly be complete without a mention of Mary Kom and Sarita Devi. Can Sarita Devi make up for her Asian Games discrimination? And can Mary, the mother of three, add another chapter to her already famed legend? While the two have not yet made the cut, there¡¯s every chance they will. If they do, there is reason to expect a couple of medals from women¡¯s boxing.

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Others who have a realistic chance include the likes of Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu in badminton and Vikas Krishan and Devendro Singh in boxing. And finally no one would dare bet against Leander Paes and Sania Mirza. While Mirza is playing at her best, Paes is an enigma the entire world sporting fraternity has failed to decode. Someone who can win Wimbledon at 43 can surely win a second medal partnering Mirza at Rio.

The Olympics, many say, is not only about medals won and records broken. And they are right. Indian sports fans would give an arm and a leg in return for a decent showing by Sardar Singh and his boys. We don¡¯t expect Sardar, PR Sreejesh and the hockey team to achieve a podium finish. But we don¡¯t expect them to finish at the bottom of the table either. There¡¯s little doubt that every Indian feat in Rio will be lauded and appreciated, discussed and debated and finally memorialised. In a year from now, Rio will be ready for the Indians. The question is: Will the Indians be ready for Rio?

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own